The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - Canada is broken.

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your

00:00:22.940 host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Court, the likes Brock, with new

00:00:26.440 content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time. We ask that you like, comment, share and

00:00:31.600 subscribe to this channel. This is information you're probably not getting in the mainstream

00:00:35.880 media, so we ask you tell two friends about it because they can download it and listen to it on

00:00:40.360 platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play and Spotify, if they so choose. Wide variety of places

00:00:46.120 you can get it and content for you. Like I said, new content every single Tuesday. This week, we are

00:00:51.140 going to talk to the Order of the East, Mr. Richard Braggdon, the Member of Parliament for

00:00:56.300 Tobik Mactaquac in New Brunswick. I say that, Mr. Braggdon, and I thank you again for coming

00:01:01.580 on the show because if you haven't checked out his social media feed, I encourage you to do so. He

00:01:05.980 had an amazing speech on the Liberal Carbon Tax. It fired everybody up, and I want to give you

00:01:12.700 compliments here on this show for giving this this time after such a performance that lit up

00:01:20.080 the House of Commons to the point of incapacitation. And it is really about, I know we jest here because

00:01:29.520 we have a running joke, but to the point you were trying to make, the cost of living, the cost of

00:01:35.520 everything is going up. Canada seems broken in many cases, and that was the point you were trying to make.

00:01:40.640 Well, thanks, Jamie, and I'm honored always to come on the show with you. We have a lot of fun, and yes,

00:01:45.600 we jest, and we have a good time, but I think it's great what you're doing and providing this platform

00:01:50.720 to get out an alternate perspective and to get out some of the messaging that we're trying to hone in

00:01:57.200 on. And I really believe that under Pierre's incredible leadership right now, we're tapping into

00:02:03.680 a real frustration that's out there amongst a lot of Canadians, and they're feeling it. You can sense that

00:02:07.600 I'm sure you are in your riding, and I know I am back home in Tomek-Maktaquak. People across New Brunswick,

00:02:14.960 and across Canada for that matter, are feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks, they're feeling the effects

00:02:20.800 in the cost of living, they're seeing the price of grocery store, the price of home heating,

00:02:26.560 to fill up their tanks, all that is going up, up, up. Their wages can't keep up with it, and they're feeling

00:02:32.800 that pinch, and the last thing they want or need is a hike in the carbon tax, which affects everything.

00:02:39.680 As you know, anything that's trucked or shipped or hauled, which ends up on the grocery shelves or in

00:02:43.680 the stores, or heating our homes for that matter, it's being affected in a big way, and it's only going

00:02:51.200 to continue to soar those cost increases as the full implementation of the carbon tax plan comes into

00:02:56.640 effect. So I was a little bit passionate about it in the House last week, but I make no apologies

00:03:03.040 about it, because I feel like that's the sentiment of a lot of Canadians. They're frustrated.

00:03:06.160 Or should you make apologies? No, no, you were tapping into something. I think that's why

00:03:10.400 the speech resonated with so many, and it took off on social media, because people could see themselves

00:03:17.040 in the words, in your words, in the stories you were telling, and it is happening. It's just shocking to me

00:03:23.520 that the Liberals, who keep doubling down on their current strategy, that Canadians have never had

00:03:30.000 it so good, aren't getting the same letters, phone calls, and emails that we're getting. It just boggles

00:03:35.440 my mind. There's a disconnect, and people feel like those that they have elected, they're wondering,

00:03:42.480 are you hearing us? Do you understand what we're going through? Do you see it? And they get up,

00:03:46.480 and they see this kind of aloof government that's disconnected, talking about how somehow,

00:03:50.640 if we pay more taxes at the pump, and on our home heating, and higher prices for groceries,

00:03:56.240 that somehow we're going to heal the planet, and the tides are going to recede, and there'll be no

00:03:59.840 more hurricanes. And that may sound over the top, but that is what Canadians are feeling like.

00:04:04.800 Why are we having to pay through the nose for this kind of virtue signal that has limited to no effect?

00:04:12.320 And one of the things that really stood out to me on my time in Natural Resources Committee,

00:04:15.840 Jamie, was the fact that we heard testimony from Canada's Environment Commissioner. When we asked,

00:04:22.160 Mr. Commissioner, this signature landmark piece of environmental legislation by the current government

00:04:28.560 that's been in place in some jurisdictions now in Canada, like British Columbia, for over 10 years,

00:04:34.000 Mr. Commissioner, do we have any metric that can measure and tell us as Canadians how much carbon has

00:04:39.680 been pulled out of the atmosphere as a result of the implementation of this tax? And he said,

00:04:44.080 at this point, we have no such metric. So this is the landmark signature piece of legislation

00:04:48.320 for environmental policy for this government that loves to sign accords and virtue signal about

00:04:52.560 how they're friends of the planet, and they have nothing that can substantiate their claims that

00:04:57.040 the carbon tax is having any effect. But we've got all kinds of evidence from Canadians from coast to

00:05:01.200 coast to coast stating, we do know what effect it's having, our pocketbooks are diminishing,

00:05:07.360 and we don't have as much cash to spend, and it's getting almost impossible to keep up with the cost of

00:05:12.480 living. So I think Canadians are fed up, and they want real tangible solutions, and Canada needs to

00:05:17.680 take a back seat to no one when it comes to our energy and our economic and environmental stewardship,

00:05:24.160 I should say, our environmental stewardship. Our energy practices are second to none in the world.

00:05:29.200 We have some of the best regulated sectors on the planet. Why are we outsourcing that development to

00:05:35.920 countries that don't have near the regulation and somehow feel like we're doing the planet a favor?

00:05:39.680 That is extremely misleading, and they talk about misinformation, that's the biggest piece of

00:05:44.720 misinformation that's out there. Anyways, I gotta stop, I'm all wound up.

00:05:47.680 There is many pieces, right. Emissions have gone up with the taxes, so somehow making people poor

00:05:54.240 will save the environment. Meanwhile, you have countries like Germany and others that have tried

00:06:00.080 the green Marxist way, and it isn't working. And they're coming to other countries, they're realizing that

00:06:05.840 if you try this source of energy that isn't exactly widely available, it isn't affordable for the vast

00:06:13.200 majority of Europeans, and it doesn't work, you get your reliable source of natural gas cut off because 0.50

00:06:20.240 of the conflict with Russia and Ukraine, and all of a sudden you're up the creek without a paddle,

00:06:26.080 basically. You have to go to other countries to find that source of energy, because your citizens are

00:06:31.120 going to be pretty upset because they know winter's coming. Thankfully, it's been a mild winter for parts

00:06:36.320 of Europe, so they aren't, they're still under a crunch, but it wasn't as bad as it was predicted to be.

00:06:43.360 So you have the Chancellor of Germany coming to Canada saying, we'd like to buy some of your natural gas.

00:06:47.680 The Prime Minister saying there isn't a business case for it, like he knows. Then you have the Prime Minister of Japan

00:06:53.520 coming here saying, yeah, the budget balance, same question. No, we're good, we're good here. So they

00:06:59.120 go to Qatar and other countries to figure out how to do this. Now we hear news of Pakistan doing the same

00:07:04.880 thing, going to the reliable, proven sources of energy. And it's not as if we're against green energy,

00:07:11.280 it's A plus B. Your energy portfolio is always adding, you don't subtract. They want, the Marxist left

00:07:19.120 wants B minus A. You can't do that because B isn't tested, it's not widely available, and it's not

00:07:24.720 widely affordable, more importantly. Well, and it affects our national security. I think if anything

00:07:31.520 that has become to the forefront over the last couple of years is the absolute critical importance

00:07:35.760 of energy security and food security. And these policies are putting the boot on both of those

00:07:41.600 sectors and industries in our country. The people who actually grow our food and produce our wealth are

00:07:46.960 the ones that are being targeted through these draconian measures that punish the sectors that

00:07:52.720 have generated wealth and food security for our country for years. And we have the potential to not

00:07:59.040 only be the most energy secure and food secure nation on the planet, but also be a safe haven through which

00:08:04.240 many other countries that are insecure places could turn to as a refuge to do trade deals, to look at us

00:08:10.960 for a supply of good, clean, solid Canadian produced energy, as well as food. We need to position Canada

00:08:19.280 to take advantage of that and to help not only meet our own needs, but meet the world's needs. That makes

00:08:24.480 good economic sense, it makes good environmental sense. And one of the things that's staggering, Jamie,

00:08:29.120 that I found throughout this process, while we've been recently been virtue signaling on the environment and

00:08:36.160 signing all these accords and bringing in these taxes, there's a neighboring jurisdiction to us in

00:08:41.600 that same period of time that became the world's number one energy producer and exporter and yet

00:08:48.400 reduced their overall greenhouse gas emissions by far more than us during that same time period. We were 57

00:08:55.360 out of 60 nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions during all that time of virtue signaling,

00:09:00.880 while this jurisdiction next to us increased their energy output and reduced their carbon footprint by

00:09:06.080 transitioning from coal to natural gas, etc. Why couldn't Canada do the same? We can maximize all of

00:09:12.720 the above and we're for all the above. Absolutely. I'm for nuclear, wind, solar. I'm all about adding,

00:09:17.120 adding to the portfolio. It's our strength. Yeah, so it makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. While at the same time,

00:09:23.280 we are getting scolded by, you know, the well-to-do, the super elite people who don't care what the tax rate

00:09:31.280 is because they're just so well off, but they treat themselves to the finest cuts of meat. They have the

00:09:35.920 best flights, the private schedules. They get the limousine service. They stay at the finest hotels,

00:09:41.120 but they don't actually solve anything when they get together in these so-called forums. They don't

00:09:45.040 actually solve. The only thing they come up with is how to add more government, how to restrict the

00:09:50.160 freedoms of the individuals in certain countries, how to basically keep people

00:09:55.200 somewhat complacent by giving them what they think they need, right? They're pieces on the chessboard.

00:10:02.880 You know, we are super smart. We know how people live their lives. We'll figure it out. Everyone just keep

00:10:09.600 pushing it uphill. And in case we, if we don't, we'll just ask for more time, more patience and more money in the form of taxes.

00:10:15.360 Oh, exactly. And this is the thing with all these wonderful grandiose suggestions and policies from,

00:10:21.680 you know, the Davos wonder class, et cetera. What happens is average Canadians are sitting there thinking,

00:10:29.280 I, I'm paying more for everything, but they can jet set. They can do all this stuff around the world.

00:10:37.520 They can come up with these policies that are going to affect whether or not I can get my kids to sports,

00:10:42.640 whether or not I can drive back and forth to work and it not cost me an exorbitant amount.

00:10:47.920 They're disconnected from the people they're representing. I think Canadians, and I find this is 0.99

00:10:53.040 resonating across the country, they're common sense, hardworking people. And they just want to be able to

00:10:58.080 raise their families and, and be a part of- Maybe take a vacation now and again. Exactly. Why not? You work hard.

00:11:04.800 They're longing for normal, like a long, best, long lost best friend. Like they just, they, they want to get back to,

00:11:10.000 look, we don't want government micromanaging our lives. And that's why, you know, I think the message

00:11:14.480 of Mr. Polyev is resonating with people across the country is they want to get back to some sense of

00:11:20.880 normalcy and live in their lives and being free without constant government intervention in every

00:11:26.240 aspect of their lives where, you know, how much they can afford to drive their car or, you know,

00:11:32.000 oh, you can't do this or you can't eat there or, you know, you don't, don't eat beef and all this

00:11:38.320 stuff. You don't want to be scolded for taking advantage of a vacation that you broke your back

00:11:42.560 all year working for. A lecture given to you by elite class who take private planes, right? The

00:11:49.200 ones that, that decry wealth, but want all of it. It's like one person said this. It's not my quote,

00:11:56.560 but someone had said this, I mean, I think it resonates. They said, I believe these people

00:12:00.480 are serious about climate change when they ban private jets. Well, if a cop, whatever number

00:12:07.840 they're at now conference, if that's not a zoom conference or should be, I don't know what is.

00:12:14.000 Lead by example. Why do you go to the best places on earth? Right. And fly all these luxury jets.

00:12:19.200 Exactly. If, if that's the message you're sending and you're yelling at people or scolding people,

00:12:24.160 calling them evil, awful, horrible human beings for taking their family on a vacation, maybe once

00:12:28.560 a year, if they can afford that. Absolutely. You know, this, this is, I think this is why people 0.98

00:12:33.920 are getting a little anxious of kind of the state of it, right? Like just leave me alone. Yeah. Yeah.

00:12:41.440 Let us live our lives. Let us work hard. I think if we could hear the cry of our farmers out there,

00:12:45.920 our workers, they would say, let the farmers farm, let the producers produce, let the workers work,

00:12:52.480 get off our backs and we'll help pull Canada out of its economic malaise. If you will just get off

00:12:58.080 the backs of the private sector, our producers and our wealth generators, and let them do what

00:13:01.920 they do best. That's Canadian. And Canadians know how to work hard and know how to innovate and know

00:13:06.960 how to produce. They just need a government that will get out of the way and let them do it. Instead 1.00

00:13:11.120 of further regulating and further punishing productivity and, oh my land, that terrible,

00:13:16.160 dreadful word, make a profit. Make a profit. That is horrible now. How dare you make a profit?

00:13:20.720 Yes. And how dare you have competition in a marketplace that provides a better product

00:13:25.200 service for people. Absolutely. No, exactly. But I'm thankful. I think Canadians are realizing this

00:13:32.080 and I believe that's why Mr. Polyev is resonating at the level he is across the country is because

00:13:37.360 people want their lives back and they know the potential that Canada has. We have incredible

00:13:42.320 potential with our vast lands, the fifth largest amount of agricultural lands on the planet.

00:13:47.520 All we need to do is allow our producers and farmers to do what they do best. And we have

00:13:52.880 amazing agriculture in this country. But let's help enhance it. Let's get out of the way of that

00:13:57.760 development instead of hampering it. The input costs have been soaring on these producers. Let's

00:14:03.600 get on the side of our producers and watch what they can do to help not only Canada but the rest of the

00:14:07.520 world with their generation. Same thing with energy. We've got incredible potential on all fronts,

00:14:11.920 whether it's hydro, nuclear, oil and gas, natural gas, all kinds of new and innovative things as

00:14:17.760 well. We can do incredible stuff. We just need to partner with them and allow them to to advance

00:14:23.520 and produce and do what they do so well. Absolutely. And the government, especially in the Marxist left,

00:14:29.360 doesn't seem to realize that if you keep taking from A, if you keep taking and giving and taking and

00:14:35.360 eventually there's not going to be an A to take from. Absolutely. They're going to stop producing.

00:14:41.520 They're going to move. They're just going to say, forget it. I'm out and stop working altogether or

00:14:45.920 stop producing those jobs and what have you. This is this is the problem. I don't think they realize

00:14:52.000 there is a breaking point. Nobody's going to stick around and get blood to death. There will be that

00:14:57.280 point. And when it becomes easier to throw in the towel and say, you know what, I'm just not going to

00:15:04.240 open my business. I'm not going to keep going on that, uh, keep going to work. That is the breaking

00:15:09.600 point where people then become more dependent on government. And of course, when you're dependent

00:15:13.760 on government, then government grows. Exactly. And the, the sign of a healthy nation

00:15:20.560 is when you have reward for hard work and those business owners that take risks, those entrepreneurs,

00:15:26.640 those small business owners that are out there and helping employ people, like I think it's like

00:15:30.480 something like 80% of Canadians are employed through some small business in some way.

00:15:34.480 If that is the case, let's allow them to receive recompense and reward for their hard work. Let's not

00:15:41.600 just take it back from them through taxation all the time and punish them for success. Let's reward

00:15:46.480 success. But at the same time, it's like, I think it was Margaret Thatcher who said, and I love the,

00:15:51.760 you know, the iron lady's quote. I think no, the quote you're going to go to. She said many,

00:15:54.480 but I know the one you're going to. She said, you can't lift up the wage earner by tearing down

00:15:59.280 the wage payer. I think it was her that said that. And, and, and I think, you know, we know that

00:16:05.440 through free market capitalism, that it's been kind of one of the staples of Western democracy.

00:16:10.960 It can be a tide that helps raise all boats. Absolutely. There's no perfect system because

00:16:15.520 they're made up of humans. But I would take that to the alternatives because any full fledged socialist

00:16:21.040 society eventually caves in on itself. Those constructs cannot be sustained in the long run.

00:16:26.640 So I think we can do great things in Canada. We have amazing potential and our future is bright.

00:16:33.520 We just need some leadership that taps into and believes in the potential of Canada,

00:16:38.400 rather than cifle it. Absolutely. When a growing field with blades of grass at different height,

00:16:43.680 the lawnmower is the equalizer. The lawnmower is big government and made equal by the saw,

00:16:49.840 made equal by the blade. I didn't say that. This was someone else said this, but made equal by the

00:16:54.080 blade. You're always cutting down. You're making people equally miserable. You're not rising boats

00:17:00.560 lifting all boats with a rising tide. Richard, we're running out of time here. As you know,

00:17:04.480 I always give the guests the last word. So the floor is yours. Well, thank you, Jamie. It's been a

00:17:08.480 pleasure to be with you again. Always fun. And look, I'm very hopeful. I know the challenges for Canada are

00:17:14.320 many. I know that we're facing some huge hurdles out there right now, economically and fiscally,

00:17:19.200 and people are facing, you know, soaring interest rates and we're seeing it with soaring inflation

00:17:25.760 and cost increases. But there's reason for hope. Change is coming. And I believe that, you know,

00:17:33.520 we've got a leader right now on the stage that has the capacity, the ability and the vision to take

00:17:38.880 Canada in a better direction in a hurry and get us there where we need to be by tapping in to that

00:17:46.080 untapped potential of this great country called Canada. You know, workers, our farmers, our producers,

00:17:53.280 all of that that's out there just waiting to be unleashed. And I think once we get the right

00:17:57.280 leadership in place, this country can become the envy of the world as it should be. That's why Richard

00:18:01.920 Bragdon is the Order of the East, Member of Parliament for Toveek Mack to Quack. I also want to thank him

00:18:06.640 not only for coming on the show, but wearing the same shade of purple. I'm glad we got the memo and

00:18:11.600 coordinated on that. We also want to thank you for your time. We do appreciate that as well. We ask

00:18:16.000 that you comment, like, subscribe and share this program. There is someone in your social media

00:18:21.280 network that might be open to hearing this message, probably isn't getting it through the mainstream

00:18:25.040 media. This is your chance to tell them about it. Also, if they can't watch or listen to this program

00:18:30.080 in its entirety right this second, they can download it on platforms like CastBox, iTunes, Google Play and

00:18:34.960 Spotify. New content for you every single Tuesday, 1 30 p.m. Eastern time. Until then, we say low taxes,

00:18:40.960 less government, more freedom. That's the blueprint.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - February 28, 2023

Canada is broken.

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